Most writings on the doctrine of kamma emphasize
the strict lawfulness governing kammic action, ensuring a close
correspondence between our deeds and their fruits. While this emphasis is
perfectly in place, there is another side to the working of kamma - a side
rarely noted, but highly important. This is the modifiability of kamma,
the fact that the lawfulness which governs kamma does not operate with
mechanical rigidity but allows for a considerably wide range of
modifications in the ripening of the fruit.

If kammic action were always to bear fruits of invariably the same
magnitude, and if modification or annulment of kamma-result were excluded,
liberation from the samsaric cycle of suffering would be impossible; for
an inexhaustible past would ever throw up new obstructive results of
unwholesome kamma. Hence the Buddha said:

"If one says that in whatever way a person performs a kammic action,
in that very same way he will experience the result - in that case there
will be no (possibility for a) religious life and no opportunity would
appear for the complete ending of suffering."

But if one says that a person who performs a kammic action (with a
result) that is variably experienceable, will reap its results accordingly
- in that case there will be (a possibility for) a religious life and an
opportunity for making a complete end of suffering." -- AN 3:110

Like any physical event, the mental process constituting a kammic
action never exists in isolation but in a field, and thus its efficacy in
producing a result depends not only on its own potential, but also upon
the variable factors of its field, which can modify it in numerous ways.
We see, for example, that a particular kamma, either good or bad, may
sometimes have its result strengthened by supportive kamma, weakened by
counteractive kamma, or even annulled by destructive kamma. The occurrence
of the result can also be delayed if the conjunction of outer
circumstances required for its ripening is not complete; and that delay
may again give a chance for counteractive or destructive kamma to operate.

It is, however, not only these extraneous conditions which can cause
modification. The ripening also reflects the kamma's "internal field" or
internal conditions - that is, the total qualitative structure of the mind
from which the action issues. To one rich in moral or spiritual qualities,
a single offence may not entail the weighty results that the same offence
will have for one who is poor in such protective virtues. Also,
analogously to human law, a first offender's punishment will be milder
than that of a reconvicted criminal.

Of this type of modified reaction the Buddha speaks in the continuation
of the discourse quoted above:

"Now take the case when a minor evil deed has been committed by a
certain person and it takes him to hell. But if the same minor offence is
committed by another person, its result might be experienced during his
lifetime and not even the least (residue of a reaction) will appear (in
the future), not to speak about a major (reaction).

"Now what is the kind of person whom a minor offence takes to hell?
It is one who has not cultivated (restraint of) the body, not cultivated
virtue and thought, nor has he developed any wisdom; he is narrow-minded,
of low character and even for trifling things he suffers. It is such a
person whom even a minor offence may take to hell.

"And what is the person by whom the result of the same small offence
will be experienced in his lifetime, wihtout the least (future residue)?
He is one who has cultivated (restraint of) the body, who has cultivated
virtue and thought and who has developed wisdom; he is not limited by
(vices), is a great character and he lives unbounded (by evil). It is such
a person who experiences the result of the same small offence during his
lifetime, without the least future residue.

"Now suppose a man throws a lump of salt into a small cup of water.
What do you think, monks: would that small quantity of water in the cup
become salty and undrinkable through that lump of salt?" - "It would,
Lord." - "And why so?" - "The water in the cup is so little that a lump of
salt can make it salty and undrinkable." - "But suppose, monks, that lump
of salt is thrown into the river Ganges. Would it make the river Ganges
salty and undrinkable?" - "Certainly not, Lord." - "And why not?" -
"Great, Lord, is the mass of water in the Ganges. It will not become salty
and undrinkable by a lump of salt."

"Further, O monks, suppose a person has to go to jail for a matter
of a halfpenny, a penny or a hundred pence, and another man does not have
to go to jail on that account.

"Now what is the kind of person that has to go to jail for a matter
of a halfpenny, a penny or a hundred pence? It is one who is poor, without
means or property. But he who is rich, a man of means and property, does
not have to go to jail for such a matter." -- AN 3:110

Hence we must say that it is an individual's accumulation of good or
evil kamma and also his dominating character traits, good or evil, which
affect the kammic result. They determine the greater or lesser weight of
the result and may even spell the difference between whether or not it
occurs at all.

But even this does not exhaust the existing possibilities of
modifications in the weight of kammic reaction. A glance into the life
histories of people we know may well show us a person of good and
blameless character, living in secure circumstances; yet a single mistake,
perhaps even a minor one, suffices to ruin his entire life - his
reputation, his career, and his happiness - and it may also lead to a
serious deterioration of his character. This seemingly disproportionate
crisis might have been due to a chain-reaction of aggravating
circumstances beyond his control, to be ascribed to a powerful
counteractive kamma of his past. But the chain of bad results may have
been precipitated by the person's own action - decisively triggered by his
initial mistake and reinforced by subsequent carelessness, indecision or
wrong decisions, which, of course, are unskillful kamma in themselves.
This is a case when even a predominantly good character cannot prevent the
ripening of bad kamma or soften the full force of the results. The good
qualities and deeds of that person will certainly not remain ineffective;
but their future outcome might well be weakened by any presently arisen
negative character changes or actions, which might form a bad
counteractive kamma.

Consider too the converse situation: A person deserving to be called a
thoroughly bad character, may, on a rare occasion, act on an impulse of
generosity and kindness. This action may turn out to have unexpectedly
wide and favourable repercussions on his life. It might bring about a
decisive improvement in his external circumstances, soften his character,
and even initiate a thorough "change of heart."

How complex, indeed, are situations in human life, even when they
appear deceptively simple! This is so because the situations and their
outcome mirror the still greater complexity of the mind, their
inexhaustible source. The Buddha himself has said: "The mind's
complexity surpasses even the countless varieties of the animal kingdom."
(SN 22:100) For any single individual, the mind is a stream of
ever-changing mental processes driven by the currents and cross-currents
of kamma accumulated in countless past existences. But this complexity,
already great, is increased still very much more by the fact that each
individual life-stream is interwoven with many other individual
life-streams through the interaction of their respective kammas. So
intricate is the net of kammic conditioning that the Buddha declared
kamma-result to be one of the four "unthinkables" (//acinteyya//) and
warned against creating it as a subject of speculation. But though the
detailed workings of kamma escape our intellection, the practically
important message is clear: the fact that kammic results are modifiable
frees us from the bane of determinism and its ethical corollary, fatalism,
and keeps the road to liberation constantly open before us.

The potential "openness" of a given situation, however, also has a
negative side, the element of risk and danger a wrong response to the
situation might open a downward path. It is our own response which removes
the ambiguity of the situation, for better or worse. This reveals the
kamma doctrine of the Buddha as a teaching of moral and spiritual
responsibility for oneself and others. It is truly a "human teaching"
because it corresponds to and reflects man's wide range of choices, a
range much wider than that of an animal. Any individual's moral choice may
be severely limited by the varying load of greed, hatred and delusion and
their results which he carries around; yet every time he stops to make a
decision or a choice, he has the opportunity to rise above all the
menacing complexities and pressures of his unfathomable kammic past.
Indeed, in one short moment he can transcend aeons of kammic bondage. It
is through right mindfulness that man can firmly grasp that fleeting
moment, and it is mindfulness again that enables him to use it for making
wise choices.

II

Every kammic action, as soon as it is performed,
first of all affects the doer of the deed himself. This holds with as much
truth for bodily and verbal deeds directed towards others as it does for
volitional thoughts that do not find outward expression. To some extent we
can control our own response to our actions, but we cannot control the way
others respond to them. Their response may turn out to be quite different
from what we expect or desire. A good deed of ours might be met with
ingratitude, a kind word may find a cold or even hostile reception. But
though these good deeds and kind words will then be lost to the recipient,
to his own disadvantage, they will not be lost to the doer. The good
thoughts that inspired them will ennoble his mind, even more so if he
responds to the negative reception with forgiveness and forbearance rather
than anger and resentment.

Again, an act or word meant to harm or hurt another may not provoke him
to a hostile reaction but only meet with self-possessed calmness. Then
this "unaccepted present will fall back to the giver," as the Buddha once
told a brahmin who had abused him. The bad deed and words, and the
thoughts motivating them may fail to harm the other, but they will not
fail to have a damaging effect on the character of the doer; and it will
affect him even worse if he reacts to the unexpected response by rage or a
feeling of resentful frustration. Hence the Buddha says that beings are
the responsible owners of their kamma which is their inalienable property.
They are the only legitimate heirs of their actions, inheriting their
legacy of good or bad fruits.

It will be a wholesome practice to remind oneself often of the fact
that one's deeds, words and thoughts first of all act upon and alter one's
own mind. Reflecting thus will give a strong impetus to true self-respect,
which is preserved by protecting oneself against everything mean and evil.
To do so will also open a new, practical understanding of a profound
saying of the Buddha:

"In this fathom-long body with its perceptions and thoughts there is
the world, the origin of the world, the ending of the world and the path
leading to the ending of the world." -- AN 4:45

III

The "world" of which the Buddha speaks is
comprised in this aggregate of body-and-mind. For it is only by the
activity of our physical and mental sense faculties that a world can be
experienced and known at all. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes and
bodily impressions which we perceive, and our various mental functions,
conscious and unconscious - this is the world in which we live. And this
world of ours has its origin in that very aggregate of physical and mental
processes that produces the kammic act of craving for the six physical and
mental sense objects.

"If, Ananda, their were no kamma ripening in the sphere of the
senses, would there appear any sense-sphere existence?" - "Surely, not
Lord." -- AN 3:76

Thus kamma is the womb from which we spring (//kamma-yoni//), the true
creator of the world and of ourselves as the experiencer of the world. And
through our kammic actions in deed, word and thought, we unceasingly
engage in building and rebuilding this world and worlds beyond. Even our
good actions, as long as they are still under the influence of craving,
conceit and ignorance, contribute to the creation and preservation of this
world of suffering. The Wheel of Life is like a treadmill set in perpetual
motion by kamma, chiefly by its three unwholesome roots - greed, hatred
and delusion. The "end of the world" cannot be reached by walking on a
treadmill; this only creates the illusion of progress. It is only by
stopping that vain effort that the end can be reached.

It is "through the elimination of greed, hatred and delusion that
the concatenation of kamma comes to an end" (AN 10:174). And this
again can happen nowhere else than in the same aggregate of body-and-mind
where suffering and its causes originate. It is the hopeful message of the
third noble truth that we can step out of the weary round of vain effort
and misery. If, despite our knowledge of the possibility of release, we
keep walking on the treadmill of life, that is because of an age-old
addiction hard to break, the deeply rooted habit of clinging to the
notions of "I," "mine" and "self." But here again there is the hopeful
message in the fourth noble truth with its Noble Eightfold Path, the
therapy that can cure the addiction and gradually lead us to the final
cessation of suffering. And all that is required for the therapy is again
found in our own body and mind.

The treatment proper starts with correctly understanding the true
nature of kamma and thereby our situation in the world. This understanding
will provide a strong motivation for ensuring a prevalence of good kamma
in one's life. And as it deepens by seeing the human condition still more
clearly, this same understanding will become the spur for breaking the
chains of kammic bondage. It will impel one to strive diligently along the
path, and to dedicate all one's actions and their fruits to the greatest
end of action - the final liberation of oneself and all sentient beings.